When the Germans say "in China, for China", it means they won't even give the Europeans a sniff. But the Jetta X has something that Wolfsburg would never dare to do at home.
This is the Jetta X… but I remember when the Jetta was simply a sedan version of the Golf. A boring object you parked in front of your house so your neighbors knew you had a mortgage and a job that mattered. Since 1979, the world has bought more than 18 million of them – an impressive number for a car that no one has ever really sighed about.
And now – attention, sit down – it is Jetta becomes Rivian...Well, almost.
In China, where things are different, the Volkswagen Group, together with its partner FAW, has already spun off Jetta into a standalone brand in 2019, aimed at buyers who want to enter the "VW world" but have about as much money in their wallet as a cutlet. And a few hours ago, at the Volkswagen Group Night event before the fair Auto China 2026 in Beijing, this brand revealed its first electric concept: Jetta X.
Look at it. It's angular. It has short overhangs. It looks like a Rivian R2 and a Land Rover Defender had coffee and agreed on a future together. And it doesn't have a single Volkswagen logo. That last one is not a mistake – that's the whole point.
When the Jetta X outgrows the Golf
To understand what's going on here, we need to go back in history for a moment. The Jetta first appeared in China in 1991, when it became the first model to be produced in China by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture. At the time, it was assembled from imported parts, but it later became one of the most popular sedans in the country.
In 2019, the “Jetta” name was separated from the parent brand and became a standalone brand – the first time in Volkswagen’s history that a model had become a brand. It sounds absurd, but it worked. In the first three months, almost 30,000 vehicles were delivered, making it one of the most successful brand launches in Chinese history.
But then reality caught up with the Jetta. In 2025, the brand sold just 113,311 units—a modest number for a brand that now aims to sell 400,000 to 500,000 vehicles annually. Meanwhile, Chinese buyers had switched to electric vehicles, and the Jetta was still selling gasoline engines. It’s like selling VHS tapes on TikTok.
The Skoda is gone. The Jetta is coming.
And here we come to the most interesting part of the story. Skoda is withdrawing from China. Its sales plummeted and VW Group pulled the Czechs out of the game. In its place, they are putting – you guessed it – the Jetta.
The Jetta essentially picks up where Škoda left off – as the VW Group's entry-level brand in the world's largest automotive market.
Courage? No doubt. Madness? Maybe a little. But when you look at the Jetta X, it becomes clear why Wolfsburg is optimistic.
Design: “Modern Robust” or how to be Rivian without admitting it
Andreas Mindt, Head of Design at the VW Group, describes the concept with the term "Modern Robust"Translated from German corporate language, this means: “We made it square because that’s what’s trendy now, and rugged because people think they like adventure.”
The front part gets split headlights, short overhangs and black bumpers that suggest the car is sitting on a dedicated electric platform. The side line is muscular, the wheelbase is long, and – most importantly – there is not a single Volkswagen sign anywhere. Because, as we found out, this isn't a Volkswagen at all. It's a Jetta. Yeah, I know. It took me a while, too.
According to automotive media reports, the first production electric Jetta – internally known as the J01 – will sit on a new CMP (Compact Main Platform) platform developed locally at VW’s Hefe technology center. The platform supports both fully electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains, and all vehicles will use China’s CEA electronic architecture – which in practice means the car will spend more time humming with the AI assistant than the engine.
Interior: screens, screens and some more screens
Inside, which Mindt revealed via LinkedIn (because that's how we do it these days), is dominated by large central touch screen, which is accompanied by a smaller screen for the passenger side. A few physical buttons have been preserved in front of the center armrest - which is almost an archaeological discovery in a modern Chinese car.
Ralf Brandstaetter, CEO of VW Group China, said an interesting thing on LinkedIn last year:
“Chinese buyers want vehicles that are AI-first, connected, with seamless voice control and smart cabins. Europeans prefer tactile controls, long-lasting durability and driving dynamics.”
This is basically the most candid thing anyone at Volkswagen has said in a decade. And it explains why the Jetta X will never come to Europe.
Technical specifications: dear Volkswagen, where are the numbers?
I have to be honest here: VW Group did not disclose a single technical data. Nothing about power in kW (HP), nothing about torque in Nm (lb-ft), nothing about battery capacity in kWh, nothing about range, nothing about charging speed, nothing about acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (0–62 mph), nothing about top speed. It's about concept in the purest sense of the word – they offered us design, not brochures.
What we know:
- The drive is completely electric
- It stands on dedicated electric platforms
- The first production version will arrive in the third quarter of 2026, and the market will be in the last quarter
- It will be priced below 100,000 yuan (about 14,700 USD or around 13,500 EUR) – a class in which the VW Group currently has no electric competitor in China.
- Jetta plans five new models by 2028, four of them electrified, with a target of 400,000 to 500,000 annual sales
To translate this into the real world: for the price of a used Golf GTI in Europe, you'll get a brand new electric SUV in China with a design that you'd be charged twice as much for in Munich.
What does this mean for us in Europe?
Short and concise: nothing. The Jetta operates exclusively in China, and there's no sign that this will change. On the one hand, that's a shame, but on the other, it's understandable - European buyers would probably be wary of this car, as it has no recognizable logo, no rich version history, no racing packages, no M, RS, N or GTI.
But here's the positive that any honest critic should acknowledge: The Jetta X shows that the VW Group has finally woken up. For a decade, the Germans drove the same vehicles to Beijing as they did to Wolfsburg – and found that the Chinese were no longer interested. Now they are developing specifically for them, with Chinese partners, with Chinese technology and – most importantly – at Chinese speed.
Conclusion: smart, brave, but a bit sad
The Jetta X is one of those cars that you look at and feel both excited and slightly bitter. Excited because it's finally a concept from the house of VW that doesn't look like the next version of the ID.4. Bitter because we'll never drive it unless we move to Chengdu.
The design is excellent – perhaps Andreas Mindt’s best work to date. The “Modern Robust” language is logical, recognizable and just modern enough to appeal to the Chinese, but not look ridiculous in five years. The absence of the Volkswagen logo is a bold move that says: “We know that young Chinese buyers don’t associate us with prestige – and that’s okay.”
It will have to be affordable. under 100,000 yuan, to survive. Competition in the form of BYD, Xpeng and Li Auto is not letting up. But if VW Group really implements its plan of four NEV models by 2028 and increases Jetta sales from last year's 113,000 to the promised half a million per year, it will be one of the biggest turnarounds in the Group's history.
Maybe – and this is my sincere wish – they will show us at some fair sometime in 2028 Jetta X also in Europe. They probably won't. But as long as we dream, anything is possible.
In Wolfsburg, they should write down: Let the next Golf be at least half as boldly designed as this Jetta. And maybe we'll have another reason to be excited about the German VW-I eat.